1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to golf clubs and more particularly to a putter structure having an improved balanced design.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known by everyone who plays golf, putting has plagued all types of players, and the quest for improved putters and putting techniques never ends. As recently as about 30 years ago, engineering principles were applied to the design of putters for the first time, and a design which became known as "heel-toe balanced" was devised. Prior to this innovation, putters where for the most part essentially flat, platelike structures commonly referred to as "blade" putters.
Briefly, a putter designed in accordance with the "heel-toe balance" principle has its mass concentrated in the heel and toe of the putter head. This provides an increased moment of inertia that causes the putter head to resist twisting whenever the golf ball is struck at a point on the putter face which is away from the "sweet spot" of the putter. Such a putter is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,405 which issued on Jul. 3, 1962.
In addition to having the heel-toe balance, my putter design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,405 has another design feature which is commonly referred to as "face balance". A face balanced putter is one having equal moment arms, i.e. the concentrated masses at the heel and toe are equally distant from the axis of rotation. This is accomplished by connecting the shaft of the putter centrally between the toe and the heel of the putter so that it is located proximate the center of gravity.
The face balancing design concept has been accomplished in another manner such as that fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,265 issued on May 4, 1976 to David L. Taylor. In this case, the shaft is attached to the putter head proximate the heel, and the shaft is bent into a special configuration. The special bends in the shaft are located at its lower end, to conform to the Rules of Golf as defined by the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient regulating body of Scotland. The shaft bends locate the longitudinal axis of the shaft, as defined by the straight portion of the shaft, so that the axis will pass through the center of gravity of the putter head.
I have been marketing another unpatented variation of a putter incorporating the face balanced design concept which I have identified as the "Z" putter. In this particular putter the shaft is bent so that the longitudinal axis of the straight portion of the shaft will intersect a line which extends normally from the face of the putter head with that line also containing the center of gravity of the putter head. This particular version of the face balanced design concept adds a still further putter head stabilization feature to the art of putter head design. By off-setting the shaft axis forwardly of the center of gravity of the putter head, a lever arm is added to the moment of inertia of the putter head about the rotational axis of the shaft. This, of course, further increases the moment of inertia in comparison to a face balanced putter which has its axis of rotation passing through the center of gravity.
Even though the fully balanced prior art putters described above are theoretically ideal, many golfers shy away from center shafted putters, putters with bent shafts, and putters without a hosel. The reasons for this vary considerably, but it all reduces down to personal preferences and what a golfer feels comfortable using.
The most popular putters used today have a hosel extending upwardly from proximate the heel of the putter head a distance of from about two to three inches relative to the sole of the head. The lower end of the shaft is usually secured in a socket-like boss formed on the upper end of the hosel. Such putters are typically heel-toe balanced but are not face balanced due to the rearward disposition of their upwardly extending hosel.
A particular prior art putter marketed under the tradename ZAAP by the Tommy Armour Golf Company, has a hosel and is both heel-toe balanced and face balanced. To accomplish such balancing, the ZAAP putter has its hosel extending upwardly and forwardly from proximate the heel of the head at about a 45.degree. angle and the socket-like boss is disposed at an angle of about 125.degree. relative to the hosel.
The angular orientation of the hosel of the ZAAP putter may disturb some golfers by distracting or otherwise interfering with the high degree of precision visual alignment required for good putting. In addition to such possible optical distraction, the ZAAP putter is configured so that the rotational axis defined by the putter's shaft passes through the center of gravity of the putter and thus lacks the additional stabilizing influence provided by off-setting the shaft axis forwardly of the putter's face so that the shaft axis intersects with the imaginary line which extends formally from the face of the putter head and contains the center of gravity of the putter.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and useful putter which overcomes some of the shortcomings and disadvantages of the prior art.